My cousin grew up in Germany and was a kid when the war broke out. They had a farm and the Nazis built a womens prison camp next to their farm. She can tell some horrifying tales. The women were starving and when the family dug potatoes they would throw the bad ones over the fence when the guards weren't looking so the girls would have something to eat. She said an egg after the war was worth a fortune as was any food items. Her father was "volunteered" into the German Army and went to the Russian front. He was captured at Stalingrad and sentenced to life in a Russian camp. He and 3 others escaped. It took him 2 years to walk home and not be recaptured. The storys are long and incredible but what I find most interesting is the shame and guilt she carrys even though she wasn't old enough to know what was happening.

She now lives in Houston and goes back about every 5 years. The last time she forgot her green card and couldn't come home. She's lived here in the US since the late 60's. We had to drive to Houston, get into her house, find her card and mail it to her while she literally lived in the airport in Germany. She is now a citizen of the USA. There are some incredible stories about that time in our history. Human endurance being the top of the list. As in all wars, there are no real winners, just a lot of dead and wounded.